first year in sales.. feel like my career is going no where. really need advice
it's been a few months since I started at a lower-tier BB as a FT sales analyst. i was placed at an equity derivatives retail desk with no rotation. given that our end clients are in the retail space, I pretty much deal with all kinds of random people/queries on a daily basis... i have to admit i didn't know the retail business in an investment bank, i always thought my clients would be either institutional or corporate before i started here.
5 months into the job, i've learnt many new things. but my learning curve has also flattened out in the recent few months in terms of product knowledge as our product structure is relatively simple. another issue is dealing with retail clients - i spend a lot of my time during market hours explaining very simple ideas over and over again. many retail investors lack the most basic knowledge in derivatives and all they do when they see prices going against them is calling issuers to complain and rant. given this, i really wouldn't want to develop my sales career in retail although it was extremely lucrative before the crisis. seeing how the senior sales work also double confirms my thought. another more pressing issue is i have to deal with an extremely incompetent colleague on a daily basis. because we are in retail, we have marketing people to support us in coordinating events and ads. the tricky thing in my bank is that we don't have a seperate marketing team (usually a size of, say, 2 in other banks). we only have one marketing guy thus he sits with us and belongs to my team though his title is marketing. this guy is probably 20 yrs older than me and his excel skill is nonexistent. the only function he is proficient at is =sum. he always asks me for help on his work and i am getting serioulsy fed up in answering the same stupid questions over and over again - an example, i have shown him how to use =countif for at least 5 times - there are many many more stupid questions. he sits right nex to me - sometimes he turns to me and asks if it's possible to get certain data. 10 minutes later, he would change his mind and asks for something else. another 10 minutes later, he changes his mind AGAIN! for f's sake, i've already started working on it. but what irritates me most is he clearly doesn't know what he is looking for! there are many more... and the worst part is, he seems to want to hand a lot of those event coordination/marketing tasks to me and making it become my job. one thing i hate the most is, he sends me out to seperate and bag 5,600 souvenirs to distribute in events after i finish my daily stuff and is about time to go home - and it's become a regular occurance! being the only junior in the team, i've been very accomodating to all his requests so far. but as time goes on, i really don't think i can or i should cover his ass so much so he takes it for granted? i could imagine if i keep doing this for one year, i am just wasting my time and efforts on things that are irrelevant to my career.
i think i should do somehting about it... a change of job is not an option given the recent market condition. but what else can i do to minimize the possible repurcussion on my side regarding this marketing guy? also, if market condition doesn't improve, how possible is it to seek for a change in team within the same bank? i assume it may be quite tricky because your boss may not necessarily be happy to let you to go... what can i do? :(
After reading all that I must say....
I agree.
Holy crap. Good luck on that one.
Advice needed..
This sounds like my situation last year, but i'm internal instead of retail. This is the time to become political and start letting people see how much you bring to the table. My recommendation is that you get all the certifications you can and network out of there as soon as possible. Make friends on different desks and start getting face time with people higher up the food chain.
Start sending your resume out now and get out of there....and don't believe all the media hype, there are plenty of people hiring, you just have to work a little to find them.
For the time being, talk to someone there in a non threatening way and ask questions along the lines of "what can I do to help reduce all the errors xxxx makes?". It's fucked up but realize this guy will fuck you over, so do unto him before he does unto you. This is a dangerous situation and you have to come out on top. In my case, someone lost their job, and although I felt bad for them, they created the situation and wouldn't let me advance or help them do things a better way.
And again, start neworking out of there immediately, or you'll end up like I got for a year or so: working too many hours, not getting credit for all the work I did, and picking barfights to blow off steam.
You also may have to come to the realization that you're not cut out for sales. This shit isn't rocket science, and you're going to be going over the same thing again and again. If you're ever bartended, it's a lot like that: anyone can pour drinks in their sleep after a few weeks experience, but what makes you money is juggling a shitload of relationships......
I'm not sure this is horrible experience. Long run, we know that leverage is coming down and investors are getting smarter. This bodes poorly for hedge funds and mutual funds, but better for individual investors, and if you're at one of the investment banks I think you are that caters all the way down to the $500K investment crowd, things aren't going to work out horribly for you.
I would recommend trying to move into PWM or maybe desk research.
The unemployment rate for folks between 22 and 30 right now is around 12%. Just remember that while this job stinks compared to most FO work, most of the country would gladly trade jobs with you.
First jobs always stink. Second jobs usually stink. Third jobs start to get a bit better. For every guy with a great job, there's ten folks keying stuff in for him and helping him find the SUMIF command.
Do you not have a mentor program at your BB? I would reach out to either one of your mentors or someone above you(think VP) on a different desk that you have made a good connection with and tell him/her your problem. I have found most people are willing to help and give advice if you have a good connection with them.
Also you should have a HR person as a point contact for your program. it sucks going to hr but they are there to help. set up a coffee meeting and bring up some of your concerns. Just be aware of how you say anything to HR or anyone else.
Hope that helps.
Cupiditate facilis tempore magnam omnis ipsa eos porro. Labore aut consequatur harum omnis iusto consequuntur. Ex perferendis animi ullam et autem architecto dolor.
Ipsum qui sit qui. Quia reiciendis consequuntur adipisci natus. Recusandae repudiandae molestiae sed rem ut.
Alias tenetur explicabo quis. Consequatur ratione illum placeat. Rerum architecto ipsam eum nostrum. Et voluptas quia libero ut ratione non est. Quia eligendi distinctio iusto debitis consequuntur enim omnis et. Impedit sunt non modi sint quia. Repudiandae et qui ipsam minima.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...